No. 19 Riverside missed critical free throws down the stretch that might have gotten the Pirates past No. 2 Southeast Raleigh in the state 4-A quarterfinals at the Crown Coliseum Thursday night.

“Free throws killed us,” Riverside senior Andrea’Anna Poole said. “We came back in the game. We came back. We had ’em, and we just let it slip.”

Southeast Raleigh won 57-47 and will play No. 5 Hillside on Saturday. The winner of that game gets to play for the state championship on March 15.

A potential title shot against PAC-6 rival Hillside was right there for the taking for Riverside.

The Pirates trailed Southeast Raleigh 33-21 at halftime, but Riverside finally started playing defense in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, Pirates junior Yakima Clifton said.

“When we came together on defense, we started missing free throws and it killed us,” Clifton said.

“They were hitting their free throws, and we weren’t,” Poole said.

Riverside coach Alicia Jones said the Pirates this season struggled with their free throws but lately had been getting them to fall.

“It just didn’t come together tonight,” Jones said.

Southeast Raleigh’s Amber Richardson led all scorers with 19 points, and the Bulldogs got 15 points apiece from Jade Phillips and Alexus Hicks.

Zaria Rogers (10 points) was the only Riverside player in double figures.

Riverside junior center Moné Jones (6-3) managed just eight points and five rebounds — Clifton (9 points) led Riverside with 10 boards. Moné Jones had a target on her back, and she knew it, too.

“I felt like they were going to pull, grab and hold to try to stop me,” Moné Jones said. “I knew coming in it was going to be a physical game, because they like to play physical. You have to fight through that, and at some point it got to me — I’m not going to say it didn’t. It got to me.”